Chapter Ten: Future Legends

"Is she going to be alright?"

Penz's concern for Elsa mirrored Vanessa's. The tall redhead placed a hand over the unconscious Snow Queen's forehead. It glowed in a golden hue while there. After some time, Vanessa breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah." Vanessa confirmed. "She's just got the wind knocked out of her, but she'll be just fine."

Penz gave a satisfied nod but not long before she noticed the hand Vanessa had upon Elsa's forehead was shaking. "I suppose I should ask if you are going to be alright as well."

Vanessa knew she had been caught. There was no hiding the fact that her nerves were shot. "It's just…" She swallowed and breathed very hard. "Yve Ette…she nearly almost killed me. I've never been so close to death…not since…" She choked on her words, unable to finish. The anxiety overwhelming, tears fell from her eyes.

It was the most vulnerable Penz had ever seen her. She put a comforting hand to Vanessa's shoulder and told her, "You're safe now. She won't ever lay a hand on you again."

"Thank you." Vanessa softly acknowledged. "The one person that came to mind in that moment I faced her was Benji. I'd never forgive myself if I let Yve Ette—"

"WHERE IS SHE?"

It was the distraction Vanessa did not ask to have but glad it came anyway. Adrienne stormed through the cargo hold, where most of the Ghost crew was gathered, acting as frantic as she could be.

"Where is who?" Chrissy questioned.

"Natalie!" Adrienne growled. "Anna, Olaf, Kristoff, and Sven are missing and so is her big ass! If anything had happened to them, I'll—"

"Settle down, Adrienne!" Kanan intensely demanded. "I don't know who you're talking about, but right now, we have more pressing concerns to deal with, such as the fact that someone's been keeping secrets from us, and we're going to find out what they are now."

He was visibly upset, and so was Hera. Penz had taken note of this, as well as more from the two. "You suspect me and Vanessa of sabotaging the ship. I can sense it within you."

"Now see that right there is another problem I have." Kanan pointed directly to Penz. "Your way of 'sensing' things like a Jedi, which you clearly are not. So let's start with the first of many questions: what are you really?"

Penz and Vanessa shared in a quick careful glance. The time to come clean to the Ghost crew had come.

"You're right, Kanan. I'm no Jedi." Penz's demeanor had slightly changed, acting more loosely in her personality. "I'm a being called the Guardian." She gestured to Vanessa. "She's one, too… but of a different kind than I am."

Adrienne's ears perked at this information.

"Guardians? Of what?" Hera asked. "The galaxy?"

Vanessa chuckled. "Nope. But there really is such a thing out there."

"We're Guardians of another universe known to few outside it as the 'Disneyverse.'" Penz clarified.

It was a revelation that astounded everyone there, specifically Chrissy, who was reminded of a recent conversation over a similar topic. She looked to Adrienne and asked, "Didn't you tell me back on Coruscant that you're a Guardian, too?"

All eyes now centered on Adrienne, who was put on the spot, thanks to Chrissy and her keen memory.

After a deep sigh of frustration, she admitted, "Yes, I'm a Guardian, too. Is anyone surprised? Scared? Want to put me on the stand, too?"

Although it shocked the Ghost crew to discover this, it did not surprise Ezra as much as it had Kanan, Hera, Sabine, and Zeb. "Well, it does explain a lot – like how you teleported yourself out of that detention cell. Even I know that no Jedi can pull off something like that, no matter how much training it takes."

"Yeah, and it explains a lot to me about Penz and Vanessa." Adrienne stated. "I watched Vanessa perform all sorts of feats akin to a Guardian back on Hoth. The one thing I can't figure out is where either of you comes in the line of reincarnations. Last I checked, there are supposed to be just seventeen of us."

Vanessa smirked. "Not anymore."

Adrienne frowned. "And what's that supposed to—"

"Are you all some kind of species?" Ezra suddenly asked.

His timing aggravated Adrienne more than his question did, but she answered anyway: "The Guardian was supposed to be one omnipotent being capable of taking on many different faces and sexes through reincarnation…but now… there appear to be two of us, with one 'amalgamated reincarnation' in Natalie, a friend we made on Hoth who has apparently missed the memo of rescuing Elsa's sister and friends."

At the mentioning of the Snow Queen, Chrissy and the crew of Ghost took notice of Elsa's presence for the first time since their escape from the ice world.

"Definitely royalty, wearin' that crazy outfit." Zeb observed.

"Was she part of that 'anomaly' you detected on the planet?" Sabine asked Adrienne.

"She was the anomaly." Adrienne replied. "Elsa is part of the Disneyverse."

Kanan groaned, his frustration evident. "I'm sorry, but I'm having a little trouble accepting the thought that there's some type of 'other universe' in existence beyond our own."

Vanessa smiled in amusement at his disbelieving attitude. "Is it any harder to believe in something as majestic as the Force?"

He glowered at her well-considered notion. "Point taken."

"Whether this 'Disneyverse' exists or not isn't any of our concern." Hera said. "Our situation with the hyperdrive is."

"And you still suspect Penz and me of sabotaging it, right?" Vanessa deduced.

"You two and now one other," said Hera, directing her focus on Adrienne.

"Look, we did manipulate the hyperdrive functions, only to alter the ship's course into the Disneyverse." Vanessa confessed.

The science behind what the tall redhead just explained baffled Chrissy. "Hyperspacing out of one plane of existence to another is downright impossible. And, believe me, I would know of such things from my time in engineering around Starspeeders."

Vanessa smirked. "No offense, Chrissy, but nothing is ever impossible for the Guardian."

"I don't appreciate my ship being tampered with," Hera scolded, "especially when it almost cost the lives of everyone aboard."

Penz and Vanessa were struck with guilt over that established prospect.

"We're sorry." Penz said on their behalf. "No one was meant to get hurt in the journey. Most importantly not any of you."

"Most importantly?" Sabine drew heavily on the modifier. "What do you mean by that?"

"Allow me the pleasure of clarifying that statement." Adrienne almost-pompously volunteered. "What Penz means is that you rebels are the catalyst of a great uprising that happens only a few years from now. You will inspire what will be known as the 'Rebel Alliance' across the galaxy."

"The Rebel Alliance?" Kanan whispered the name in fondness.

"An organization of freedom fighters that stand against the Empire and carry on your legacy for years to come." Adrienne continued. "Honestly, I shouldn't be telling you any of this, but our current circumstance has forced certain information to be revealed."

Listening to Adrienne's details of these future events made Ezra feel more awestruck than his fellow crewmates – minus one Twi'lek pilot captain, who became even more suspicious of Adrienne's knowledge. Does she know about Fulcrum, she pondered.

"I saw a strange model airspeeder fly over the surface of Hoth." Ezra revealed to the group, bringing attention on him. "It had Sabine's Starbird design on its hull…or, at least, some version of it."

Adrienne's eyes opened wide with surprise. "The insignia of the Rebel Alliance! But that can only mean…we've somehow traveled forwards in the galaxy's timeline."

"Sorry. Our bad." Vanessa bashfully muttered.

There was more trepidation than ever over the unquestionable power of these self-proclaimed "Guardians." However, Zeb managed to muster some fascination with his fear.

"I must admit I'm a bit impressed of the idea of you bein's capable of travelin' through time." The Lasat expressed.

"To reach the Disneyverse, both time and space must be traveled." Penz informed.

"I can't believe this." An exasperated Hera uttered. "So we're stuck in the future?"

"It's not as bad as it sounds." Vanessa reassured. "Penz, Adrienne, and I can get you back to your proper present." She then giggled over the alliteration of that last phrase. "Hey, 'proper present' – that sounds neat."

Hera rolled her eyes at the easily-distracted redheaded human. "If you can do it, then do it now."

"No. Later." Adrienne suddenly belayed. A hand went to her forehead as if she experienced a slight headache. "I just picked up on another anomaly…this one's on Jakku."

Often mistaken for Tatooine with its strong resemblance to the desert climate of its fellow Outer Rim planet, Jakku was just as much of a world to maintain a low profile. It was certainly a change of pace for the passengers of Ghost from their recent excursion on the frozen territory of Hoth. The endless flatland was nearly daunting for Hera to fly over. Thankfully, with the acute guidance of Adrienne, who seemed to have visited the planet before, the Twi'lek pilot was able to know just where to make her heading.

There was still much Hera was forced to process after uncovering Adrienne's strange past. Neither she nor the rest of the crew knew much about her when they encountered her one fateful day on Lothal. Kanan merely presumed she was a Jedi lost to the purge over a decade ago and brought her along to help Ezra learn more about the Force. Admittedly, Adrienne's attitude and methods made Hera wary of whether or not she was a real Jedi. As it turned out, she wasn't.

After a long period of flying over much of Jakku's desert landscape, Hera eventually spotted one thing that stood out – a small camping pitch. It was where Adrienne had instructed her to land the ship. Upon descendent, she and the rest of the crew noticed a figure donned in a hooded dark brown cloak waiting just outside of a large maroon-colored tent.

"Who's that?" Ezra questioned of the hooded figure during the landing.

"My little anomaly." Adrienne said with half a smile.

Soon after Ghost landed on the sandy surface, its rear facing in the direction of the camping pitch, the ramp lowered and permitted its passengers to exit. Adrienne was the first to step out, approaching the short-statured, hooded figure that waited so patiently for their arrival, which he seemed to have expected.

And he made that abundantly clear from the way he jubilantly said in a high-pitched voice, "Knew you were comin'!"

Adrienne looked down on the stranger with hands on her hips. "Any reason Mickey Mouse is dressed like a Jedi?"

The figure removed his hood, exposing a pair of perfectly round black ears. Seeing his true appearance came as a shock to the crew of Ghost, who had never seen a creature like the one that stood in front of them before.

"Awe. I'm just keepin' appearances." Mickey said. "It's not every day you get to be a sorcerer and a Jedi, you know."

Adrienne grinned. "More frequent than you realize."

"And this realm is the one place where I get to be me for once." The mouse joyfully added. "How 'bout that, huh?"

"Yeah, I'm all happy for ya, Mick." Adrienne impatiently muttered. "Is she in there?" She gestured to the tent behind him.

Mickey expressed a hint of distress as he confirmed, "Uh, yeah…s-she's there. Luckily I found her when—"

Adrienne did not waste any time bypassing Mickey to enter the tent. Just before she walked in, she turned to the group she arrived with and instructed, "All of you wait out here. This is a personal visitation." With that assessed, she proceeded in her entrance.

The interior provided much shade from Jakku's brazenly hot temperature. The atmosphere was cool, albeit somewhat dim, due to the dark texture of the maroon sheet that made up the structure of the tent. Across from the entrance sat a young woman in a short-sleeved, short-skirted green dress complete with a brown corset tied to her waist and brown boots to match. Her hair was long and auburn, though the dimmed setting made it look much darker.

Her eyes were closed, and her legs were folded into lotus style position while she sat upon a bed of red, brown, and reddish-orange pillows, meditating for an uncertain amount of time. Indeed, this young woman was the Jedi that Adrienne recalled hearing about during the Clone Wars – the legendary Terr Essa.

Yet there was something that felt different about her than when both their presences were last met.

Slowly and surely, Essa's eyes opened to reveal their sparkling hazel color. She did not say a word; instead, she merely stared at Adrienne. For a long moment, neither woman said a word to each other.

That was until Essa finally told Adrienne, "You've come at last."

"You expected me to find you here."

"Only because you wanted to find me."

Adrienne nodded assuredly before sitting down to the floor before Essa in the same lotus position. "So," she callously said with a shrug, "Here we are. Now what?"

Essa attempted to respond but stopped and groaned, clutching her left side with her right hand. Noticing this, Adrienne caught a glimpse of the area she grasped to: there was bleeding from that side, a hole burnt through the corset and the fabric of her dress, breaking through the skin. It was clear she had been involved in a recent battle that left her mortally wounded.

Seeing the wound brought Adrienne to question, "Was it a Sith that attacked you? A Sith named Yve Ette?"

Essa weakly smiled. "Not surprised you know her. She just happened to mention she would come after you, after she got to me."

Adrienne felt more guilty than angry in letting Essa suffer this way. "I'm sorry. I don't know why she would involve you like this."

"You do know why, Adrienne. The second you saw our little friend outside, you knew what this was really all about." Essa was calm in her address, regardless of the searing pain in her side.

Adrienne considerately paused for a long time and asked, "How long have you known?"

"Since Yoda told me how much I was like another young Jedi he trained many eons ago – one born neither of the Force nor of this world."

Hearing this, Adrienne wondered aloud, "Which reincarnation are you?"

Essa gave a laugh that followed into a brief cough. "I hadn't known what that term meant until this very moment. I've lived in the galaxy for many years and had not aged a day…suffered any ailments, except this one now. At first I believed myself to be of a rare, immortal species. There's not much the Jedi let us know of our past. But then I sensed your presence, growing stronger each year, until it was like a beacon…a voice calling out to me."

Adrienne scowled. "If you knew I was in the galaxy, why didn't you reach out to me when Yve Ette attacked?"

"Because I know how important you are in the events to come…and I wanted to protect you. A mother will always protect her child."

It was those last words that gave Adrienne a newfound understanding of this young female Jedi and who she was in actuality. Her eyes filled with tears – happy tears – as she continued looking on her.

"I admit that it took much focus and deep connection within my soul to discover what Yoda had known the whole time – I am the living restoration of a woman named Joanie. I died in another life, in another world."

Adrienne knew of the events she referred to. "At Project Geo, in the Marvel Universe. You…Gigi…died at Facilier's hands. We thought you were gone for good that time, but you must've been able to reincarnate into a new form when the magic Facilier had stolen was returned to Fantasia."

Essa nodded as if to confirm Adrienne's hypothesis. "When I first manifested in this form on Coruscant, there wasn't much I could remember of the previous life or the one before it."

Adrienne snickered. "Yeah, I can relate."

"Once I remembered who I was, many years later, I reached out to Mickey. Lucky for me, he was in the galaxy at just the right time, being on a special mission with Yen Sid. Unfortunately, Yve Ette must've been tailing the little guy here to Jakku – the one place I would think to be safe from the Empire – because she attacked us the second he arrived."

Adrienne's hands balled into fists in reflection of her increasing anger over Yve Ette's reign of terror, particularly against her mother. She swore the next chance they would meet, it would not be a pleasant experience.

Essa suddenly let out a cry of agony that brought Adrienne's attention back on her. She saw her double over in pain and rushed over to gently lift her upper body, letting it rest over her lap.

Essa's cry did not go unnoticed by the group outside, prompting them to hurry into the tent and see what the commotion was about. Chrissy was the last to have entered. Looking past the others to see the scene on the other side of the tent, her eyes widened at the familiar woman Adrienne was nursing.

"Mistress Essa!"

Adrienne was taken aback the moment she saw Chrissy frantically push her way through the others and join at Essa's side. "You know her?"

"I turned to this woman for help when I needed explanation of my condition, so I can see my daughters again." Chrissy said, anger developing in her voice as she directed her address towards Essa: "For years, I thought you perished during the galaxy-wide execution of the Jedi, and now I find out you survived while my little girls died!"

Essa shook her head. "Your girls survived as well, Chrissy."

Chrissy was paralyzed in astonishment at this revelation. "W-What?" A sense of hope that she believed to have lost shortly after the Jedi purge had returned in her. "What h-happened to them? A-Are they alright? Where are they?"

Essa fought through the pain overtaking her body long enough to say what needed to be for the sake of easing Chrissy's prolonged trauma. If there was a chance her next reincarnated form would forget all the information that had been stored in the memory of her current form, she would never be able to keep the promise she made all those years prior.

"I found them in hiding on Nar Shaddaa and took them to Fantasia."

Chrissy frowned. "F-Fantasia? Where in the galaxy is that?"

"It's not in the galaxy, Chrissy." She heard Vanessa say from behind her. "It's in the Disneyverse."

There was that name again – The Disneyverse – a place of deep discussion preceding their arrival on Jakku. Before then, it served no importance to her whatsoever; just a ridiculous notion brought on by Vanessa, Penz, and Adrienne. But now that it was the location of her daughters, Sierra and Sienna, her belief in the existence of the "parallel universe" had increased.

Essa raised her bloodied right hand close to her face. Her fingertips turned grainy – the beginning stages of reincarnation. Time was no longer a luxury that she had, and there was still much she needed to tell Chrissy before her body rendered to dust.

"Chrissy, listen. Once you're in Fantasia, everyone – including Sierra and Sienna – will see you as you truly are. Your condition…it's not irreversible. You just need to…to…"

She was abruptly interrupted by the violent convulsion of her body. Adrienne could feel the upper half of it stiffen against her lap until it went limp. Essa, the second reincarnation of Joanie Navarro-Thomas, had died from her severe wound. Her eyes remained open, lifelessly staring at the ceiling of the tent, before Adrienne respectfully closed them and allowed her body to rest on the floor.

Kanan mournfully sighed. "It never gets easy losing another surviving Jedi."

"She wasn't a Jedi." Adrienne coldly remarked. "She was a Guardian…and my mother."

They all looked on Adrienne in sheer bewilderment at that last bit of information. Yet it was not as shocking as what they watched happen with the body of Terr Essa. It completely dissolved into a white powdery substance that sparkled in gold and rainbow colors.

Ezra was the one most baffled from the supernatural event. "Uh…what just happened?"

"Her body had retired itself in order to be reestablished into a new one." Penz explained. "That's reincarnation."

"Adrienne, we've gotta rescue Yen Sid from the Empire before it's too late to stop them from findin' Fantasia and destroyin' it."

Mickey hated to be so direct with Adrienne only a short time after losing Terr Essa. Even though Joanie would reincarnate into another form soon, there was no telling how different she (or, by some slim chance, he) might be or if Joanie's memories might remain intact. Essa seemed to have only just got them back before her ultimate end. These were the thoughts Mickey figured to be going through Adrienne's mind as she stared at the dust lying in place of Essa's body.

But there was more on Adrienne's mind than her mother. Mickey brought up an issue that should have had no bearing whatsoever on her conscience. Fantasia's destruction was imminent – she had witnessed it multiple times through many attempts in stopping it, yet the result was all the same. How would another be any different?

Things are different this time. There are the lives of two girls at stake now. We have to do something about it, no matter the outcome.

With this new resolve, Adrienne snapped back into focus.

"Vanessa…Penz…take Elsa and the crew to Fantasia. For the safety of the Queen of Arendelle and theirs as well, they must be there."

Vanessa affirmed Adrienne's command with a nod. "Understood."

"Mickey, you and I are gonna wait for my mother's new reincarnation to arrive and then make our move towards another rescue mission on the Death Star."

The mouse did a double-take at the second half of this plan. "Just the three of us against an entire battle station," he exclaimed in fear.

"I'm willing to tear the whole damn thing down piece-by-piece all by myself if it means getting Yen Sid back." Adrienne boldly declared.

"You know that Yve Ette will be there, possibly waitin' for us."

With murderous rage in her cold blue eyes, Adrienne hissed, "Exactly."